Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Despite the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, theVietnamese e-commerce market is still booming. Therefore, the amendment andsupplementation of Decree 52/2013/ND-CP on e-commerce to better manage theactivity, considered "the future of the retail market", isextremely necessary.

TheVietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) recently coordinated with theMinistry of Industry and Trade to organise a seminar commenting on the draftamendment of the decree.

TheVietnamese e-commerce market includes big names such as Shopee, Lazada,Tiki and Sendo. During the COVID-19 pandemic, e-commerceplatforms recorded double-digit growth.

Witha market of nearly 100 million people and stable socio-economic growth,e-commerce in Vietnam is considered to be full of potential. Many foreigninvestors have poured billions of dollars of investment into these sites.

Expertsalso emphasised the importance of the revised Decree 52 to manage but notrestrain the explosive growth of e-commerce activities in Vietnam.

ChuThi Hoa, Deputy Director of the Institute of Legal Science under the Ministryof Justice, stated that the policy of the State was to promote digital economicdevelopment.

TheMinistry of Industry and Trade should be cautious in amending some points ofDecree 52, especially in matters that have a profound impact on foreigninvestors and enterprises and those which may cause difficulties for businessoperations.

Meanwhile,Sendo Chairman Nguyen Dac Viet Dung raised concerns about the regulations onmarket access conditions of foreign investors from the perspective of domesticenterprises which need access to capital to develop amid fiercecompetition.

Ase-commerce is a field which needs significant capital, Vietnamesebusinesses without a parent company with strong financial potential would notbe able to develop and compete as they are only allowed to access capitalfrom the narrow list of investors announced periodically by the Ministryof Industry and Trade, he said.

Inaddition, the draft decree also eliminated the participation of the group ofinvestors, which are foreign investment funds, which are one of the types ofinvestors with abundant capital and experience to support local businesses todevelop strategies, operations and human resources.

DoanTich Tu Phuoc, a MoMo representative in Hanoi, said that tighteningcross-border transactions would reduce the attractiveness of e-commerce in thecountry.

Thelong-term consequence was that domestic e-commerce sites might have to makeroom for the operation of overseas e-commerce companies such as Amazon,Aliexpress, or Facebook, which were not subject to Vietnamese law.

Consumersbuying goods on these platforms would also not enjoy protection and supportpolicies from domestic e-commerce trading floors./.